The 100-ton ballistic missile Sarmat may be test launched in one or 1.5 years after its drop tests that are planned for 2015, a Russian defense industry source told TASS on Thursday.

The 100-ton ballistic missile Sarmat may be test launched in one or 1.5 years after its drop tests that are planned for 2015, a Russian defense industry source told TASS on Thursday.

"If everything goes according to plan during the drop tests, if they pass successfully, then in a year or 1.5 years the missile will be test launched," the source said.

According to the source, the drop tests check the missile’s separate stages. "This is done on a special stand to check the missile’s lift capacity," he said. "It’s difficult to speak of the timeframe now, but it is usually done at the end of the year," he added.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said that drop tests of the Sarmat missile had been planned for this year, and Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) Sergey Karakayev said the missile was to be commissioned in the army by 2020.

Sarmat’s characteristics are unknown, it is only known that the missile is to replace the world’s largest strategic missile Voyevoda (NATO reporting name - Satan). According to Borisov, the new rocker’s destructive payload will reach 10 tons.